Teacher Support and Socioeconomic Status (SES) at the Student and School Levels: Implications for Educational Equity in China
摘要
Both educational quality and equity matter for school education. The effect of teacher support on educational quality has been widely established. However, its impact on educational equity remains unknown. This study aims to explore the impact of teacher support on educational equity in China by examining the multilevel relationships between teacher support and socioeconomic status (SES) at the student and school levels. Data were obtained from the China National Assessment of Education Quality (CNAEQ) in 2015, which included 48964 eighth-grade students nested within 2459 schools. Students reported their demographic characteristics and perceptions of teacher support. Multilevel moderation analysis showed that both student and school SES were positively related to the two types of teacher support. Furthermore, school SES moderated the impact of student SES on teacher emotional support. The results emphasize the adverse effects of teacher support on educational equity at the student and school levels in China. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.